Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transitions are essential for normal embryonic development and for progression of non-invasive tumor cells into malignant, metastatic carcinomas. Twist, an important regulator of morphogenesis in the embryo, has recently been implicated in the onset of invasive behavior during tumor progression.